My daughter is 20. She was a full time college student from January to May 2012.

She had a baby in January. Can I claim my daughter if she is going to claim her son?

Answer: Mary - Thank you for your question.

There is more to your question than you may think. While it may be possible that you can claim your daughter as a dependent (you did not supply enough information for a specific determination), doing so would make her ineligible to claim her son as a dependent.

IRS Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information, explains the requirements to claim a dependent and the tests that must be met in order to do so.

The publication states in part:

You cannot claim any dependents if you, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.

You cannot claim a married person who files a joint return as a dependent unless that joint return is only a claim for refund and there would be no tax liability for either spouse on separate returns.

You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.1

you cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is your qualifying child or qualifying relative.

As the publication shows, you must first determine if your daughter is eligible to be claimed by you as a dependent and if she is, she cannot claim her son as a dependent.

Your daughter is your dependent if she is either your qualifying child or qualifying relative. It is possible that your grandson may be your dependent under these same rules.

The requirements for both are explained in detail in Publication 501 which is available at the IRS web site, www.irs.gov.